More than 800 restaurants have been tested, evaluated, commentated from the well-known Gastro Guide GaultMillau and some of them in the Ticino even got excellent valuations. „Promoter of the year 2009” in the Canton Ticino is Frank Oerthle with 16 GaultMillau scores. Oerthle is cook in the restaurant „Arté“ right beside the Lake Lugano. „Arté“ belongs also to the distinguished five star Hotel Villa Castagnola in Lugano. „He puts on Mediterranean cooking, modifies inventively and sophisticated“ so the laudation of the Gastro Guide.

Lugano - is both the social and financial centre of Ticino, and is Switzerland’s 3rd banking city (after Zurich and Geneva). Lugano’s most sought-after neighborhoods are on the slopes of Mount Bre and Mt. San Salvatore, with its south-facing residential areas of Castagnola, Ruvigliana/Aldesago and Montagnola/Collina dlOro. They all offer peaceful but spectacular panoramic views over the city and the bay between the mountains. Two small local Airports at Lugano and Locarno enhances accessibility for those with private jets. Wetag Consulting has in its listings apartments for everybody’s liking and desire.

Source: „Tessiner Zeitung“, 07.11.08

Posted By: Claudia Starck

Ronco – the name means vineyard – once a small and poor peasant village became more and more an artist village in all those years. We do not know if this came because of the amazing views from several places in the village or cause of the charm of the old Ticino houses and full of nooks and crannies streets in the old core of the village. However it attracted a lot of famous people like for example the painter Richard Seewald and the film director Kurt Hoffmann, who produced quite all films of Erich Kästner, and Erich Maria Remarque, who became world famous over night by his roman “All Quiet on the Western Front”. They all chosen also Ronco’s cemetery as their last resting place. 1932 Remarque moved to Switzerland and took residence in the “Casa Monte Tabor” in Porto Ronco. He maintained a relationship with Marlene Dietrich of several years and the letters between Porto Ronco and Beverly Hills in the book “Sag mir, dass du mich liebst” is the report of this long passion. Remarque had friendship with different gallery owners, booksellers and antiquarian in Ascona as with Wladimir Rosenbaum for example, the former husband of the writer Aline Valangin. He was in third marriage with the American actress Paulette Goddard, previously married to Charlie Chaplin. Together with her and her mother he is entombed on the cemetery of Ronco above Ascona. His villa, the “Casa Monte Tabor” was sold by Wetag some years ago to the present owner. There are a few rare opportunities to live in one of Ascona’s great properties. The experts at Wetag can find you rare gems within the very sought-after location.

www.si-su.ch

Posted By: Claudia Starck

As bad news of financial turbulence and the impact on the economy is continuing to hit the newsstands, people might feel that this is not the right time to invest in their long-planned vacation home or investment in Italy. But there is no question that there is quite a potential to negotiate on prices particularly if there is a real need to sell. Paul Hudson took the temperature of the property market in Italy and reported a few increasing markets as well. In his report, he stated the Lake Como region and its surroundings being one of the regions which are most stable in value and where we have seen a slight increase in prices too. Ticino, the southern region of Switzerland is bordering right on northern Italy. Lakes in Ticino like Lago di Lugano, Lago Maggiore and its valleys are famous for its lifestyle, and prices on the Swiss side of the lakes are still stable and will continue to remain on that level.

Posted By: Peter Rabitz

Discover and enjoy Ascona’s extravagance! Once a small fishing village, today it counts as one of the best loved and most exclusive tourist destination in Switzerland. Here you can find everything for a VIP holiday far from noise and prying eyes: some of the most prestigious hotels in Switzerland, a magnificent 18-hole golf course, smart boutiques, a large welcoming Lido, an immense treasure of passed and actual art history, cultural events as for example the traditional New Orleans Jazz Festival and many more. It is easy to understand why a lot of tourists would like to have a home of their own on this glamorous spot – be it as a holiday home or as a first residence. Whether you look for an apartment or for a villa – The listings of Wetag Consulting realize your personal dream.

Source: www.ascona.ch

Posted By: Claudia Starck

In these days we got the last results from the „Immo-Barometer“ – a comprising survey about requirement of accommodation, housing and satisfaction of the Swiss German population. The recently published figures show clearly that the interest on rental apartments has been bare in the past 20 years whereas the demand on property ownership increased, especially the interest in buying a house rose manifestly. Large apartments are the most wanted objects. After a declining inclination between 2002 and 2006 the run of big flats/houses with 5 or more rooms has grow remarkable. The well-known NZZ publishing house in Zürich pursues this worthwhile survey since 20 years. Zürich, the Swiss biggest and hippest town, leading in lifestyle and only 2 hours driving away from the Ticino is the most sought-after property spot in Switzerland so far since many of the big players in the economy moved there European headquarters to Zurich.

Source: http://design.nzzdomizil.ch/immobilien/info

Posted By: Ueli F. Schnorf

By end of October 2008 nearly 80% of the longest railway tunnel in the world – the 57 km Gotthard Base Tunnel – had been excavated. The total of tunnels, galleries and passages of the Gotthard Base Tunnel will amount about 153 kilometers. The estimated costs of the project will be nearly 12 billion Swiss francs. Operational at the end of 2016, the trains of the future will cross the tunnel at a speed of 250 km/h, and bring Zurich closer to Ticino – this will be just a one-hour trip. Significant impacts on the standing of the Italian part of Switzerland – in terms of economy, tourism and culture – are obvious. With the tunnel finished, Ticino will be even more a alternative to life in. It features a great Mediterranean lifestyle around one of the lakes in a sunlight bathed and palm tree loaded surrounding.

Source: For further information: www.alptransit.ch

According to a recently published survey in NZZ Domizil, which has been done by Wüst & Partner (W&P), the global financial crisis hasn’t incited a slump of the Swiss real estate market- so far. Owning a home continues to be one of the most important things in life for Swiss citizens. A nice apartment in a great location is one of the things in life people don't want to miss. The search for a new accommodation depends on size of the household and available income. The biggest group, by numbers, with 23% are couples in an age over 40 years. In that category only 1 of 6 are looking for a new place to live, but one third of them are owner of a property already and now like to move out of their single family house or apartment. This situation will definitely effect the market of single family houses in near future.

Over the past three years, more and more 'older' single family houses have been placed on the market. That has the reason that more and more owners reach an age where they like to sell their home- to downsize- since these properties are more likely bigger houses with more than 6 rooms. W&P predicts that a huge part of the demand for single family houses will be covered by such properties.

The survey shows that for the first time in a long while, more than 4% of the inventory of single family homes have been for sale in the first half of 2008. This increase is due to all the older single family houses being on the market.

The growth of prices will slightly level during the next year (1.2% instead of 1.6% in 2008) but with more regional differences. Prices may even start to decline in some parts of Switzerland. The experts believe that there won’t be big slumps in the overall market, however. Home prices in Switzerland had increased very moderately in the past few years, unlike the UK and the US. Reasons for the price increase in Swiss property are due to a well working rental market and a much more careful placement of home mortgages. A slight delay, ongoing turbulences and a decreasing number of qualified labors might affect our real estate market. Prices will cool down a bit in direction to that process and in some regions, there will be an equal balance. In general, sellers' markets will turn into buyer’s markets, concludes Christian Haupt, of Kuoni Mueller & Partner: http://design.nzzdomizil.ch/immobilien/infos/Immobilienwirtschaft_1.1168687.html

Posted By: Peter Rabitz

Director of Wetag Consulting's International Division

Peter holds a degree (Dipl.-Wirtsch.-Ing.) in Real Estate Management by a well known German University. He began his professional career while attending University in 2002, where he has began working beside his mentor. In this position he acted as a Consultant and Client Relations Manager for a well known boutique brokerage in Beverly Hills, focusing on architecture and design-centric real estate properties.

Peter joined the team of Wetag Consulting in mid 2007 where he formed the international division of the company.

Read some recent blog posts below:

• Ticino’s famous avant-garde architecture scene and Attilio Panzeri
• Real Estate In Italy - Is Now a Good Time to Buy?
• Is the Swiss Real Estate Market Immune to all the Financial Turbulence?
• A Visit At the Pope's Court Yard
• "Drive-in" in a different way: To a garage up in the sky
• Fractional ownership - the new way to buy vacation properties?
• Are Portugal and Spain ready to rebound soon?